


Motivation

by ZephiraZ



Category: Dragon Quest Builders (Video Games)
Genre: Accidentally skipped the porn and went right to the aftercare, Implied Gangbang, M/M, Malroth gets a front-row lesson on the differences between love and lust, Set in the climax of Khrumbul-dun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 12:29:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephiraZ/pseuds/ZephiraZ
Summary: The Builder provides some much-needed motivation for the miners in Khrumbul-dun, following an attack by the island's overseer.Afterward, Malroth has some questions.





	Motivation

The miners still needed to build and mine after Madusa paid a visit. There was one last bar to complete, after all. But without Babs's smiling face to greet them when they emerged from the mines, and despite their resolution to work to save her, they were still depressed. They tried, oh how they tried to honor their word. Yet the ore flowed slower than it ever had.

Kane had an idea, one he surreptitiously shared with Malroth one evening. Malroth was hesitant, but agreed eventually. As long as he was there at Kane's side, all would be well.

That night Kane asked the miners to join him in a specially constructed room. Spacious, low lit, bedecked in flowing curtains—and at the center of the room, a simple barrel with a padded top. Here the Builder sat, naked and full of nervous energy, ready to provide much needed motivation. He could take one man at each end, he told the gathered crowd. They needn’t be shy if everyone was doing it. After a brief deliberation, all were ready to take him up on his offer. Dougie and Digby went first, while Malroth kept a close eye on the proceedings. When they finished, the rest could go in turn, with Malroth, Dougie, and Digby ready to swiftly correct anyone who cut in line, or who sought to take more than Kane was comfortable with.

After the miners all had their fill, a rosy sheen of cheer and fulfillment rising in their cheeks, Malroth swiftly chased them out. When he'd heard Kane's plan he hadn't been sure what to think, and he still hadn’t made up his mind.

The whole evening a mild sense of panic gripped him as he watched these strangers—walls of rippling muscle dusted with sweat and grime from a long day working the mines, all dwarfing the lanky Builder—surround his best friend and fill Kane from either end, constant and unrelenting. Despite Kane's earlier assurances that it would be fine, Malroth's heart hammered in his ears throughout the whole ordeal and a fire burned in his loins, one not dissimilar to the rage that engulfed him during battle, but foreign enough to cause alarm. Every inch of him had screamed to fight these men off, to take Kane in his arms and shield him from their touch, but he had promised to only step in if necessary.

And now it was over. Kane sat up upon his barrel, eyes glazed and a dopey smile splitting his face—dopier than usual, at least. More vacant, if anything. He appeared unharmed, but Malroth could not relax yet. He took a towel and a flask of water from the supplies he'd brought along and carefully cleaned the mess off his friend. Kane looked as if he'd been chewed up and spat out by a metal slime, and with Malroth's sensitive nose, the stench of so much sweat and salty gunk was enough to make him lightheaded.

He shook it off, and tossed the sullied towel aside in favor of a fresh one. He wrapped the towel around Kane, then took his friend into his arms and carried him away.

Once safely in their private shared room, Malroth drew Kane a hot bath and walked him through getting cleaned up. His heart ached to see Kane moving so sluggishly, as if his every muscle ached, but he otherwise seemed happy and unharmed. After a thorough washing, Malroth bundled Kane in a clean, soft blanket, and sat him before a fire. With his arm draped over Kane's shoulders, the tiny Builder tucked tight against his side, Malroth felt he could finally relax.

"Was that...love?" Malroth asked, still trying to make sense of the evening's activities.

"Love?" Kane responded, a rasp in his voice. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Nah, that was lust. Just as strong a motivator at times."

Malroth grunted in frustration. He was swiftly tiring of these L-words. "The hell is that supposed to be?"

"It, well..." Kane furrowed his brow, struggling to construct the idea. "The short of it, it's when you wanna have sex with someone. More than that, it's passion."

"Didn't you say love was passion?"

"Yes, well, they're not entirely different. Lust is like the passion you have in the heat of battle, the tugging in your gut and the satisfaction and exhaustion that follows. It’s when you want to share your body with another, and partake in theirs. Love is like the passion you had for that tree in Furrowfield, the joy and pride of watching it grow and flourish, the urge to keep it safe. Your eyes lit up whenever you looked at it, you know."

Malroth wasn't sure about that, but he did know three things. He certainly felt that tugging in his gut while watching other men handle his friend; if anyone ever dared hurt Kane he would destroy them completely and utterly; and he'd never seen anyone's eyes light up the way Kane's did when the Builder looked at him.

“They’re not for everyone, you know. Some people feel love, some people feel lust, some feel both or neither. There’s nothing wrong with any of it, they’re just different ways of forming relationships and connecting to the people you care about most. So… What about you, Malroth?”

“What about me?”

“Have you ever felt that way for anyone? Lust, I mean.”

“Well, I dunno…” Malroth shifted, now keenly aware of the man pressed against his side. “I don’t really have any basis to measure it by.”

“Would you like to try sometime? With- With me, I mean.”

Malroth thought he misunderstood, but when he looked down at the Builder, Kane’s face was set with determination. Not quite the same as when he’d resolved to entertain the miners, no. The apprehension was gone, replaced with something akin to hunger, as if the light from all the smiles Kane had ever graced him with had condensed into a single flame, and it wanted more.

“...I think I would like that, yeah. I just….don’t know how,” Malroth responded at length. “Would you show me?”

Kane grinned then, the crinkles by his eyes reigniting the heat in Malroth’s gut. The Builder leaned in and pressed their lips together. It was warm, soft and tender. The briefest contact that stretched a single moment into eternity.

When at last they parted, Malroth was left breathless. Kane’s dopey smile was back, more pleased than ever. It was the perfect moment. Or, it should have been. Malroth could taste a lingering salt that shouldn’t be there, and still saw faint bruises around Kane’s lips. Clearly the night’s toll would not be so easily paid.

Kane’s smile slowly slid away as he caught on to Malroth’s change in mood. “Was that no good? If you didn’t like it, then we don’t have to-”

Malroth cut him off with another kiss, dry and clumsy. He ended it quickly and smacked his lips. “Yep, you need to brush your teeth.”

“Wh- What did you just-”

“_And_,” Malroth continued, poking Kane’s stomach with each word, “you are going right to bed!”

“Q-quit it!” Kane gasped between laughs and batted his friend’s hand away. “You know I’m ticklish!”

Malroth obliged with a wicked grin, resting his hand flat on Kane’s thigh. “You’re going right to bed and we can try again another night, after you’ve got your stamina back. How’s that?”  
It took a moment for Kane to regain his breath. When he did, Malroth swore he’d never looked happier.

“It’s a deal. Thank you, Malroth.”

The next evening, the Accumulation Declaration yielded better results than they'd had all week.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I end all of my stories literally the exact same way. rip.


End file.
